Server managing the interactions between a source mobile device and a plurality of recipient television devices

ABSTRACT

A mobile device or a sender&#39;s PC, notebook, PDA or laptop creates questionnaires and sends it to other recipient devices. The questionnaire is created by user of mobile device using audio inputs for a questionnaire preamble and for preambles for a question. A server in the network incorporates other generic portions of the questionnaire. It collates results received and send it to user who made/sent the questionnaire. Thus, a user can make adhoc questionnaires, send them to recipients and receive the results. This makes it easy for a user to create, disseminate, conduct questionnaires or surveys on mobile handsets and to collect results for processing and storage.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of, makes reference to, claimspriority to, and claims benefit of U.S. non-Provisional application Ser.No. 11/807,672 entitled QUESTIONNAIRE SERVER CAPABLE OF PROVIDINGQUESTIONNAIRES BASED ON DEVICE CAPABILITIES (Attorney Docket No.23040US02) filed on May 30, 2007, the complete subject matter of whichis hereby incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety. Theapplication Ser. No. 11/807,672 makes reference to, claims priority to,and claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/858,546entitled QUESTIONNAIRE SERVER CAPABLE OF PROVIDING QUESTIONNAIRES BASEDON DEVICE CAPABILITIES (Attorney Docket No. BRR2006US07) filed on Nov.13, 2006, the complete subject matter of which is also herebyincorporated herein by reference, in its entirety.

This patent application makes reference to United States provisionalpatent entitled “QUESTIONNAIRE CLIENT FOR MOBILE DEVICE”, filed on Oct.4, 2006, docket number BRR2006US04. The complete subject matter of theabove-referenced United States Patent Application is hereby incorporatedherein by reference, in its entirety.

This patent application makes reference to United States provisionalpatent entitled “MOBILE DEVICE FOR CREATING ADHOC QUESTIONNAIRE”, filedon Oct. 7, 2006, docket number BRR2006US05. The complete subject matterof the above-referenced United States Patent Application is herebyincorporated herein by reference, in its entirety.

This patent application makes reference to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/530,175, entitled “QUESTIONNAIRE NETWORK FORMOBILE HANDSETS AND A TRADING SYSTEM FOR CONTRACTS ON USER COMMITMENTSTO ANSWER QUESTIONNAIRES,” filed on Dec. 17, 2003, docket numberBRR2003US04. The complete subject matter of the above-referenced UnitedStates Provisional Patent Application is hereby incorporated herein byreference, in its entirety.

This patent application makes reference to U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/985,702, entitled “QUESTIONNAIRE NETWORK FOR MOBILE HANDSETS,”filed on Nov. 10, 2004, docket number BRR2003US03-U1. The completesubject matter of the above-referenced United States Patent Applicationis hereby incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to the interactions betweenmobile handset and a server within a network, and more specifically tothe ability to create questionnaires using a device such as a mobilehandset, store them in a network, disseminate them and collect results.

2. Related Art

Electronic devices, such as mobile phones and personal digitalassistants (PDA's), often contain small screens with very limitedviewing area. They are constrained in terms of how much information canbe displayed, and in terms of user interaction capabilities. Thekeyboards on cell phones, for example, are not conducive for user dataentry, and only brief user inputs can be solicited from a user withoutannoying the user.

Often a user would want to ask his friend which movie from a selectionof movies currently playing that they want to see. A user has tocumbersomely call up each of his friends and repeat the same questions,talk about movies currently showing, and ask them which one they wouldwant to see in a group today. The whole process is time consuming,expensive, and requires all his friends to be available for theconversation to be satisfactorily completed.

User interaction in real time, such as those provided for a user using aPC on the Internet, are often not possible for a user using a cellphone. For example, the amount of textual information cannot be a fullpage of textual information that is typically made available to a PC.Graphical information also cannot be large. A typical website provides arich multi-media experience. The same website, when accessed from a cellphone, would not only be unreadable, due to its large amount of text,graphics and even video, but also frustrating due to the nature of websites—the design of websites often being multi-media based(predominantly providing large multi-media web pages full of text,graphics, flash-based and even containing videos). Thus, there is aproblem in presenting a mobile user with information in order to solicituser input when the user is using a cell phone. Soliciting user inputfrom a user when the user is using a cell phone, rather than a PC, is abig problem.

Cell phones are therefore a device for which traditional websites areill prepared to provide information. In addition, surveys orquestionnaires that are created for Internet based access via a PC arenot appropriate for cell phone access. Asking one or more detailedquestions with information on how to answer them is possible on a webpage that is accessed from a PC. However, the same web page would beunmanageable and difficult to browse and navigate on a cell phone with asmall LCD screen and small keyboard for user input.

Quite often a user of a mobile device would like to determine where hisfriends would like to have dinner among all the nearby restaurants. Theuser may have to call each and every one of his interested friends todetermine their preferences, in order to determine which restaurantwould be the preferred one. This would take at least as many calls asthe number of interested friends, and would take the same amount of timefor each such call, and incur significant costs to the user. There doesnot exist an easy way for a user to send questionnaires from his mobiledevice, especially optimizing on the ability of the user to employ voiceon the mobile device.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the artthrough comparison of such systems with the present invention as setforth in the remainder of the present application with reference to thedrawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to apparatus and methods of operationthat are further described in the following Brief Description of theDrawings, the Detailed Description of the Invention, and the claims.Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of the invention madewith reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective block diagram of a network for mobile devicesthat facilitates creation and dissemination of questionnaires from asource mobile device to a plurality of other recipient mobile devices;

FIG. 2 is a perspective block diagram of a network that supports adhocquestionnaire creation by a user of a mobile device that is forwarded torecipient users who respond to the questionnaire and the results arerouted back to the mobile device;

FIG. 3A is an exemplary main splash screen for a mobile device thatsupports adhoc creation of questionnaires and browsing through aquestionnaire from the mobile device;

FIG. 3B is an exemplary adhoc questionnaire recording screen that isdisplayed when the Create menu item is activated from the screendescribed in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 3C is an exemplary adhoc questionnaire recording screen that isdisplayed when the user Stops recording the audio portions, such as anaudio preamble, for a given question while creating a questionnaire;

FIG. 4 is a perspective block diagram of a network wherein the sourcemobile device comprises a client plugin for a browser that makes itpossible to create questionnaires in the source mobile device, andwherein the recipient mobile device comprises a client plugin for abrowser that makes it possible to browse through questionnaires in therecipient mobile device;

FIG. 5 is an interaction diagram that depicts an exemplary interactionbetween a source mobile device and a recipient mobile device wherein thesource mobile creates an ad-hoc questionnaire that a server enhances byincorporating generic preambles and multiple-choice portions to thequestions in the questionnaires;

FIG. 6 is a perspective block diagram of a mobile device that is capableof creating questionnaires with audio preambles that are uploaded to aserver, the mobile device also being capable of receiving questionnairesand facilitating the perusing of the downloaded questionnaire by a user;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an exemplary operation of a server thatreceives questionnaire from a source device and provides a plurality ofoptions to a recipient device for perusing the questionnaire;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an exemplary operation of a server thatsupports adhoc creation of a questionnaire using a first mobile deviceand tailoring the questionnaire before sending the questionnaire to asecond mobile device;

FIG. 9 is a perspective block diagram of a mobile device with a browserand a client plugin that is capable of creating questionnaires withaudio preambles that are uploaded to a server, the mobile device alsobeing capable of receiving questionnaires and facilitating the perusingof the questionnaire by a user;

FIG. 10 is a perspective block diagram of a network that facilitatescreation and dissemination of questionnaires from a source mobile deviceto a plurality of televisions;

FIG. 11 is a perspective block diagram illustrating interaction betweenQClient, QCreator and QServer applications where the QClient applicationis running on a first user device and a second user device and theQCreator application and the QServer application are running on a serverto facilitate creation and dissemination of multi-media basedquestionnaires from the first user device to the second user device; and

FIG. 12 is an exemplary questionnaire structure that is displayed on ascreen of a recipient user device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective block diagram of a network 105 for mobiledevices that facilitates creation and dissemination of questionnairesfrom a source mobile device 107 to a plurality of other recipient mobiledevices 111, 113, wherein the questionnaire is disseminated to therecipient mobile devices in a form that is compatible with thecapabilities of the respective recipient mobile devices 111, 113. Thenetwork 105 comprises the source mobile device 107, the plurality ofother recipient mobile devices 111, 113 and a server 109. Some of theplurality of other recipient mobile devices 111, 113 are legacy devicesthat do not have a client component capable of handling the download anddisplay of questionnaires. Others of the plurality of other recipientmobile devices 111, 113 have the client component capable of handlingthe download and display of questionnaires. The server 109 determineswhich recipient mobile device can handle questionnaires (because theycomprise the client component capable of handling questionnaires), andwhich need to be sent a simpler subset of the questionnaire that can bedisplayed/rendered without the client component.

The source mobile device 107 captures questions (in audio form) from auser and sends it to a server 109 to convert it into a completequestionnaire that is sent to designated recipients. The recipients usetheir respective recipient mobile devices 111, 113 for browsing throughthe questionnaire when they receive it. They can use the clientcomponent if it is present for such browsing. Alternatively, they canuse a browser (such as a WAP browser) to browse through thequestionnaire. The server 109 receives the results from the recipientdevices 111, 113 and forwards them to the source mobile device 107.

The server 109 receives ad hoc questions from the source mobile device107, adds boilerplate text (such as multiple choices), determines whichof the recipient mobile devices specified, such as recipient mobiledevices 111 and 113, can handle the all the contents of thequestionnaire (audio components, textual components, graphics if any,video is any), and which need to be sent a simpler subset of thequestionnaire, such as only text, or only audio components of thequestionnaire.

The server 109 is capable of converting recipient list to a list ofphone numbers or IP addresses as needed, in order to communicate thequestionnaires, or a notification regarding the questionnaire, to therecipient mobile devices 111, 113. In order to play all the componentsof a questionnaire, if required, the recipient devices, such as therecipient device 111, have a client component that can handle all thecomponents of a questionnaire, audio, textual, graphics and even videocomponents). In one embodiment the client component that can only handlethe components of a questionnaire such as audio and textual. In order toplay all the components of a questionnaire, if required, the recipientdevices, such as the recipient device 113, do not have a clientcomponent. Instead, the server 109 makes it possible for them toparticipate in the questionnaire by sending them the same questionnairein an alternate form, such as a simplified set of web pages, that therecipient client device 113 can display using a browser or some otherexisting client in the recipient mobile device 113. In addition, therecipient client device 113 will be sent a notification regarding thequestionnaire that also comprises a link that can be activated todownload the client component so that it could be installed beforedisplaying the questionnaire.

The recipient mobile device 113 without client component gets anopportunity to download & install the necessary client component. Theuser can then activate the download link whereupon the client componentis downloaded and installed automatically (or with user opt-in). Theuser of the recipient mobile device 113 also is given the option,selectively, to receive a subset of questionnaire that recipient mobiledevice 113 can handle without the client component.

The recipient mobile device 111 with the client component receivesquestion/questionnaire, lets user browse through each question andanswer them, and sends results to the server 109. It is able toplay/render/display all portions of a questionnaire that may beprovided, such as audio, text, graphics, video, etc.

The server 109 is capable of completing the incomplete questionnairesreceived from the source mobile device 107 or from a PC/computer (notshown) or another server (not shown). For example, the source mobiledevice 107 may send an incomplete questionnaire with two questions, eachwith only the audio preamble created (by a user recording the questionsin audio form that incorporates a brief descriptions of availablechoices) and the server 109 incorporates a generic textual preamble anda generic set of multiple choices for each question in order to completethe questionnaire. For example, if the user creating the questionnaireon the source mobile device 107 provided two questions such as “Whichmovie do you want to go? a) jaws b) sideways c) room with a view” and“Where do you want to eat after the movie? a) Freds, b) Baja Fresh c)Thai This”, then the server 109 would incorporate into the receivedpartially complete questionnaire a generic textual preamble (also calledprompt sometimes), such as “Select one of the following”, and a genericmultiple choice set, such as “>A, >B, >C”, for each question received inthe questionnaire. The server then is capable of determining if arecipient device can only handle a subset of the questionnaire, such asonly the textual component), and sends it to such recipient devices. Inone embodiment, the server transcribes the audio components into textualcomponents and sends those transcribed text along with the otherboilerplate text to recipients who cannot handle audio components of aquestionnaire. Thus, for example, spoken preambles and supplementaryinformation, in a questionnaire can be converted into equivalent textualcomponents by the server 109, in an automated way, so that devices thatcannot handle audio preambles and audio supplementary information (orvideo preambles and video supplementary information) can be providedwith equivalent and/or relevant textual components.

In one embodiment, the server 109, based on device capability (or lackof capability), incorporates the use of an IVR system, as required (forexample during a supplementary information requested, or a preamble tobe played) during the attempt by a recipient user on a recipient device,such as a recipient device without the client component 113, to respondto the questions of a questionnaire.

The server 109 receives audio question from a user, incorporatesmultiple-choice text, and generic prompt to user, and sendsquestionnaire to recipients. The recipients are either specified by theuser along with the questionnaire or pre-configured and stored in theserver 109 to be used to forward questionnaires. It then receivesresponses, and sends them to source mobile device 107. Responses areeither sent individually as they are received or collated and sent inone set back to the source mobile device 107. Additionally, it ispossible to configure the server 109 to save the responses until theyare retrieved by the source mobile device 107.

The server 109 also supports the notification of the availability of thequestionnaire and the dissemination of questionnaires to the mobiledevice 111. The user interaction is facilitated by a client component inthe mobile device 111, which is either made available by themanufacturer of the mobile handsets or subsequently downloaded over theair, or otherwise installed by the user. The client component is able toprocess the received questionnaire (or portions thereof), playing audioportions such as audio preambles, audio supplementary information, etc.and displaying textual preambles and textual multiple-choice sets.

In one embodiment, the network 105 comprises mobile devices 107, 111,113 which are a combination of cellular phones, PDAs, etc. and thenetwork is 115 is a wireless and/or wired network, cellular network suchas 3G, UMTS, CMDA, GSM, etc., a WLAN network, or a WiMAX network,Internet, Bluetooth, IrDA, etc.

FIG. 2 is a perspective block diagram of a network 205 that supportsadhoc questionnaire creation, using a PC/computer 231 or a source mobiledevice 211, by a user, that is forwarded to recipient users who respondto the questionnaire, and the results are routed back to the user to hisPC/computer 231 or the source mobile device 211. The network 205comprises the source mobile device 211 that a user uses to create adhocquestionnaires, a server that receives the questionnaires and sends themto one or more recipient mobile devices 227, a questionnaire creationcomponent 207 that facilitates questionnaire creation using thePC/laptop/computer, or via web pages provided by the server 217. Thenetwork 205 also comprises a storage 215 that is used to storequestionnaires if necessary, and a results and activity loggingcomponent 219 that can be used to track questionnaire creation,questionnaire answering, and other related activities. In addition, thenetwork 205 comprises a billing system 223 that can facilitate billingfor the creation of questionnaires, the distribution of questionnaires,etc.

Questionnaire creation (or even a single ad hoc question creation) issupported in source mobile device 211. The ad hoc questionnaires canalso be created using the PC/notebook/laptop 231 and uploaded to theserver 217. In addition, the /notebook/laptop 231 can be used to accessthe hosted questionnaire creation component 207, to create detailedquestionnaires across multiple login sessions or simple ad hocquestionnaires that only provide audio components (with boilerplates tobe inserted), etc.

A user with client component in source mobile device 211 creates anad-hoc question/questionnaire on the fly, and sends the audioquestion(s) to recipients specified using a pre-created mailing list (orselecting recipients from a address book, or other sources on the sourcemobile device 211). The user receives responses such as multiple choiceselects (A, B, C or D) from one or more recipients.

The user can also employ a /notebook/ laptop 231 communicatively coupledto a hosted questionnaire creator tool 207 to create ad-hocquestionnaires with only audio inputs provided, ad-hoc queries with only1 textual question preamble provided, or even complete questionnaireswith audio and textual preambles, supplementary information in audio andtextual formats (even graphics and video formats).

The server 217 would do the rest when a user provides ad hocquestions/questionnaires (with more than one question)—formulating therest of the question such as generic preamble and multiple-choices (suchas using boilerplate text) based on audio input (which is calledQuestion preamble) when no other information is provided. The clientcomponent in the source mobile device 211 communicates a complete orpartially complete questionnaire to the server 217 with a recipientlist. The server 217 farms out question to recipient(s), such as therecipient user of the recipient mobile device 227, and the form ofquestionnaire sent is based on device capabilities, or user initiatedmode of questionnaire browsing—the recipient user can choose to usebrowser to browse through and respond to questionnaire, or employ theclient component to retrieve the questionnaire and respond to it, etc.The server 217 receives responses from the recipients and forwardsresult to user on source mobile device 211, or the user employing aPC/notebook/laptop 231. The server 217 can also send the questionnaire(or a link to a hosted version of the questionnaire to be responded by abrowser) to other users who have a PC/notebook/laptop 231. In oneembodiment, the recipients for a questionnaire are a combination of PCusers, laptop users, PDA users, users of mobile devices, set-top-boxTVs, TVs, writable tablets, etc

Responses can be collated if the user so desires, and reported back tothe user by the server 217. The user can receive responses on email, onwebsite (on subsequent visit to a hosted webpage), on source mobiledevice 211 (for example, the user needs to specify mobile number ofmobile device on which the user wishes to receive the responses), by SMSmessages, by instant messaging, etc.

Ad hoc questionnaire creation (a single question creation is alsosupported) in thus possible using the source mobile device 211. Thesource mobile device comprises a client component that supportsquestionnaire creation (even a partial questionnaire that can later becompleted by the server 217). A user with the client in the sourcemobile device 211 creates an ad-hoc question/questionnaire on the flyand sends audio question to specific recipients or to a pre-configuredrecipient list or mailing-list, and receives responses (such as one of amultiple-choice A, B, C or D for each question) from one or morerecipients. The user of the source mobile device 211 does the followingto create a questionnaire and receive results:

a) Activates recording on source mobile device 211 (such as activating arecord button on the source mobile device 211, a different button, ordisplayed menu item)

b) User speaks into source mobile device 211

c) User stops recording a question

d) User records audio component for additional questions if needed,repeating steps a) through c)

e) User terminates audio inputs for adhoc questionnaire

d) User provide recipient list (a single phone number, a list of phonenumbers, a list of contacts from the contact list, a preconfiguredrecipient list, or a mailing list)

f) User waits for responses and reviews it when received

The source mobile device 211 (i.e. the client) would do therest—formulating question based on audio input (which is called Questionpreamble). Then source mobile device 211 ships the questionnaire toserver 217 with recipient list. Server 217 farms out question torecipients, receives responses and forward result to user on sourcemobile device 211.

In one embodiment, hosted questionnaire creation component 207 is ahosted server that can be used by the source mobile device 211 or thePC/notebook/laptop 231 to create questionnaires. In a relatedembodiment, the questionnaire creation component 207 is part of theserver 217 and provides questionnaire creation logic useful for thecompletion of a partially assembled questionnaire sent by the sourcemobile device 211. For example, if the source mobile device 211 sends aquestionnaire with only audio preambles recorded using the source mobiledevice 211, the questionnaire creation component 207 is used by theserver 217 to incorporate a generic question preamble, a genericmultiple-choice set, etc. into each question of the partially completequestionnaire. In a different embodiment, the questionnaire creationcomponent 207 is part of the server 217.

In one embodiment, the questionnaire preamble is not created by the userpopulating the questionnaire. The questionnaire creation component 207does not add a questionnaire preamble, instead it adds textualquestionnaire preamble to each question. Each question comprises atextual question preamble incorporated automatically by the hostedquestionnaire creation component 207. Other components of aquestionnaire are also selectively incorporated by the questionnairecreation component 207 when they are missing from a questionnairecommunicated by the source mobile device 211.

In one embodiment, the boilerplate components added to thequestionnaires created using the hosted questionnaire creation component207 comprises a graphics component, a video component and/or an audiocomponent and a textual component.

When a recipient using the recipient mobile device 227 gets thequestionnaire on his mobile device, the questions themselves areprovided to the recipient by the server 217, starting with the firstone, without the preamble of the questionnaire is it does not exist.Thus, in the beginning of the questionnaire, the recipient would viewthe first question (or just the multiple-choices for it) and would beable activate an Info menu item to hear the audio preamble for the firstquestion. The recipient selects one of the automatically incorporatedmultiple-choices presented, such as A, D, G, or J, say, by selecting D(or multiple-choice may be A, B, C or D). In a related embodiment, thechoices presented to user are 2, 3, 4, 5 (corresponding to adjacent keyson a typical mobile phone keyboard) and the user selects one of them onthe recipient mobile device keyboard, before activating the Next menuitem to proceed to the next question, if any.

In one embodiment, the recipient device is a legacy device 227 and notcapable of letting a recipient user work through the questionnaires. Forsuch a device, the server 217 sends a voice mail notification to therecipient device 227 and when triggered by the recipient device 227,causes the audio preamble of the questions to be played as voice mail,such as those that employ interactive voice response (IVR) systems (notshown). The user is provided with the option to select from the genericset of multiple choices (1, 2 3 or 4) and the user selections are notedthrough the IVR component (not shown). Thus, part of the questionnaire,the audio preamble with references to the choices available, is playedas part of a voice mail and the recipient's choices are recorded bymeans of IVR and the collated results are forwarded to the user of thesource mobile device 211. Such a solution wherein IVR is used makes itpossible to incorporate “legacy” devices and land line devices into thenetwork 205 and have them participate in receiving questionnaires andresponding to them. The server 217 thus employs the services of an IVRcomponent to provide questionnaires to recipients on legacy devices (andother devices that do not have an appropriate client software installed)in order to solicit user responses to the questions in thequestionnaire. Such responses received via the IVR component are alsocollated and results are sent to the source mobile device 211.

In one embodiment, the recipient mobile device 227 is a legacy device227 and not capable of letting a recipient user work through thequestionnaires as it does not have a client component. Instead, it has abrowser that can be used to browse though the questions of thequestionnaire, the questions provided employing web pages hosted by theserver 217, employing one or more questions to a web page of thequestionnaire.

FIG. 3A is an exemplary notification message display screen 309 for amobile device 307 that supports the display and/or creation ofquestionnaires using a client component, or the browsing through aquestionnaire from the mobile device 307. Notifications, such as thosereceived as an SMS message, received by user (for example, of typeService message) on mobile device 307, offers the user an opportunity todownload a client component that is capable of displaying questionnairesand seeking responses. If the user of the recipient mobile device doesnot have an appropriate client component (such as a qClient componentcapable of displaying questionnaires), then the user can still respondto the questionnaire by viewing the questionnaire using a browser in thedevice, such a browser retrieving one or more web pages for thequestionnaire using a link (URL or some such reference) to thequestionnaire provided as part of the notification message (such as aURL in an SMS message). Thus, the notification also offers link toquestionnaire that a browser can use to provide access to associated webpages for a questionnaire. Notification messages O(such as SMS basedones) can be flagged to be service messages, and are sent to mobiledevice by service providers supporting/providing questionnaires. Theycontain links through which the message content, such as questionnaires,can be downloaded.

It is possible to automatically download client component for aquestionnaire (such as qClient) and the associated questionnaire tomobile device, if user has configured the mobile device to downloadmessages/content automatically.

FIG. 3B is an exemplary notification message 367 displayed in anotification window (or pane) 359 on a mobile device 357, wherein theuser is provided the opportunity to start a questionnaire using a linkprovided, that a browser can retrieve, and wherein the user is alsoprovided with the links to download the client component if necessary.

A user who receives notification (such as SMS) can open a URL linkprovided to respond to a questionnaire, using client software such as abrowser, interacting with server that is remotely hosted that providesweb pages for the questionnaire. Alternatively, the user can downloadclient component (such as qClient) by activating a Download link in thereceived notification (such as SMS message) and then respond locallyusing downloaded client (that is then installed too).

FIG. 3C is an exemplary browser window 379 on a mobile device 377 thatis used to retrieve and display questions from a questionnaire that isdistributed by a server in a network. For the mobile device 377 with noQclient installed, a browser in the mobile device 377 can be used by auser to interact with a server that provides questions of aquestionnaire. The browser in the mobile device 377 retrieves onequestion at a time and displays it. Audio component, if any, in eachpage is played by a media player (or some audio player) in mobile device377. Similarly video content and graphics content, if any are displayedusing appropriate plug-ins to the browser.

FIG. 4 is a perspective block diagram of a network 405 wherein a sourcemobile device 411 comprises a client plugin 431 for a browser 432 thatmakes it possible to create questionnaires in the source mobile device411, and wherein the recipient mobile device 427 comprises a clientplugin 425 for a browser 427 that makes it possible to browse throughquestionnaires in the recipient mobile device 423. The client plugin 431in the source mobile device 411 receives incoming questionnaires fromthe browser and helps the user review them on the browser, answer thequestions and provide results back to the server. The browser 432receives questionnaires from the server 417 and communicates them to theclient plugin 431 for processing. Similarly, the client plugin 431 makesit possible for the user of the source mobile device 411 to create newquestionnaires using the browser as the conduit. For example, the userof the source mobile device 411 activates a specific web page hosted bythe server 417 that provides a dialog box capable of invoking thequestion preamble recording and question creating functionality providedby the client plugin 431.

The network 405 also comprises a PC/notebook/laptop 441 that comprises abrowser capable of being used to create a questionnaire retrieving webpages from a hosted questionnaire creation component 407. They may alsocomprise a software application (such as a QCreator application) that iscapable of creating questionnaires locally and being used to upload thequestionnaires securely to the hosted questionnaire creation component407 or to the server 417.

The use of the recipient mobile device 423 to walk through the questionsof a questionnaire is facilitated by the client plugin 425 that works inconjunction with the browser 427. In a related embodiment, the clientplugin 425 is capable of being used as a standalone application as wellas a plugin for the browser 427.

In one embodiment, the client plugin 431 is incorporated into thebrowser 432 and the browser 432 is capable of facilitating the creationof questionnaires or portions of a questionnaire in the mobile device411. Similarly, the client plugin 425 is incorporated into the browser425 and the browser 425 is capable of facilitating the browsing ofquestionnaires or portions of a questionnaire by the user of therecipient mobile device 423.

FIG. 5 is an interaction diagram that depicts an exemplary interactionbetween a sender's PC, notebook, PDA or laptop 507 that is used tocreate and upload questionnaires and a recipient mobile device 515 usedto respond to the questionnaire, wherein the sender's PC, notebook, PDAor laptop 507 is used by a user to create an ad-hoc questionnaire withonly audio components or a full-fledged questionnaire that a server 509enhances, if necessary, by incorporating generic preambles andmultiple-choice portions to the questions in the questionnaires. In oneembodiment, the sender's PC, notebook, PDA or laptop 507 comprise theplugin client that works with browsers to facilitate creation ofquestionnaires and browsing through any questionnaires received. Foradhoc questionnaires with only audio components, the user of thesender's PC, notebook, PDA or laptop 507 initially sends audio portionsof questions and a list of recipients to the server 509. The server 509then forwards the audio portion(s) to a questionnaire creation component511 to get the questionnaire populated and generic textual content andgeneric multiple choices (canned choices) inserted for the questions inthe questionnaire. The server 509 receives the updated questionnairefrom the questionnaire creation component 511 and stores it if needed(temporarily or permanently).

Then, the server 509 sends a push notification to the recipient devicessuch as recipient mobile device 515. In response, the recipient mobiledevice 515 initiates the browsing of the questionnaire starting with thefirst question. The server 509 sends the first segment of thequestionnaire, which may comprise of a set of questions, to therecipient mobile device 515. In one embodiment, the browser 427 in therecipient mobile device 515 determines that the client plugin 425 shouldprocess the questionnaire and invoke it, passing the questionnaire to itfor processing. The client plugin 425 manages the subsequent processingof the questions in the questionnaire.

FIG. 6 is a perspective block diagram of a mobile device 611 that iscapable of creating questionnaires with audio preambles that areuploaded to a server (not shown here), the mobile device 611 also beingcapable of receiving questionnaires and facilitating the perusing of thedownloaded questionnaire by a user. The mobile device 611 comprises aclient component 613 which is a software installed in the mobile device611. The mobile device further comprises a recording circuitry 615, aplayer circuitry 617, a processing circuitry 621, a communicationcircuitry 623, a storage 625, a display 627 and a input interface 629,each of which are communicatively coupled to the client component 613.The client component 613 is adapted to prompt a user operating themobile device 611 to record the audio preambles of the questionnaires.The client component 613 typically displays a button marked “Record” onthe display 627. The user speaks aloud a plurality of sentences that arerecorded by the recording circuitry 615. The client component 613 isfurther adapted to prompt the user to provide a list of intendedrecipients. The user provides the list of intended recipients by avariety of ways, for example and without limitation, by inputtinguser-ids of a plurality of users or device-ids of a plurality of devicesor email-ids of the plurality of users via the input interface 629, byrecording names of the plurality of users via the recording circuitry615 etc. The client component 613 is adapted to map the user-ids (ordevice-ids or email-ids) to a plurality of IP (internet protocol)addresses that uniquely identify a plurality of mobile devices (notshown here). In one embodiment of the present invention the clientcomponent 613 retrieves the IP addresses corresponding to the usersupplied user-ids (or device-ids or email-ids) from a lookup tablestored in the storage 625 of the mobile device 611. The client component613 receives the plurality of recorded sentences from the recordingcircuitry 615. The plurality of sentences are the audio preambles to thequestionnaires. The client component 613 sends the audio preambles andthe plurality of IP addresses corresponding to the plurality of mobiledevices (the intended recipients) to the server (not shown here) via thecommunication circuitry 623.

The server, for example and without limitation, appends a textualpreamble and a multiple-choice set to each of the audio preambles togenerate a questionnaire. The server thus generates the questionnairesand sends the questionnaires to the plurality of mobile devices (theintended recipients). Each of the plurality of mobile devices has a copyof the client component 613 installed in it.

For example, the server sends another questionnaire to the mobile device611. The client component 613 running on the mobile device 611 afterreceiving the another questionnaire from the server, sends audiopreamble of the another questionnaire to the player circuitry 617. Theaudio preamble is played by the player circuitry 617. The clientcomponent 613 further directs the display 627 to display textualpreamble to the another questionnaire (if any) and multiple-choice seton the display 627. The client component 613 running on the mobiledevice 611 enables the user operating the mobile device 611 to hear andview the another questionnaire on the mobile device 611.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an exemplary operation of a server thatreceives questionnaire from a source device and provides a plurality ofoptions to a recipient device for perusing the questionnaire. The serverinteracts with the source device using a first protocol and interactswith the recipient device using a second protocol that is, for exampleand without limitation, communicatively incompatible with the firstprotocol. The source device and the recipient device is for example, oneof a personal computer, notebook, cellular phone, IP phone, PDA etc. Theserver receives the questionnaire from the source device in a step 707.The questionnaire typically comprises an audio preamble, a textualpreamble and a multiple choice set. The audio preamble and/or thetextual preamble is a question and the multiple choice set is aplurality of probable answers to the question. The source devicecomprises a questionnaire creator tool that creates the questionnaire byusing input from a user.

The user typically desires to send the questionnaire to a plurality ofrecipients. The server receives unique network addresses of devices usedby the plurality of recipients from the source device. The server isalternately adapted to retrieve the unique network addresses from adatabase. The server is further adapted to identify the plurality ofrecipients based on identity of the user and/or based on an event-idattached to the questionnaire, wherein the user provides a priory a listof intended recipients. For example, and without limitation, a firstquestionnaire from the user corresponds to asking a first group offriends to select a movie from a plurality of movies. The event-id ofthe first questionnaire is “movie”. A second questionnaire thatcorresponds to asking a second group of friends to select a restaurantfrom a plurality of restaurants is assigned an event-id “restaurant”.The server on receiving the second questionnaire with event-id“restaurant” retrieves network addresses of the second group of friends.

The server after determining the network addresses in a step 709 sends afirst uniform resource locator and a second uniform resource locator toeach of the second group of friends (or devices used by the second groupof friends) using the retrieved network addresses in a next step 711.The first and the second uniform resource locator get displayed onscreens of the devices used by the second group of friends. The serverallows a first device from the devices to download the secondquestionnaire if the first device selects the first uniform resourcelocator in a step 715. The server allows the first device to view thesecond questionnaire as a collection of web pages in a browser runningon the first device if the first device selects the second uniformresource locator as shown in a step 717. The server provides two optionsto the first device (a recipient device) for perusing the secondquestionnaire (a questionnaire) that the server receives from the sourcedevice.

A user using the first device (any one of the second group of friends)responds to the second questionnaire by selecting an option from themultiple choice set in the second questionnaire. The server waits forresponses from each of the second group of friends (the devices used bythe second group of friends). In one embodiment the server waits tillthe server receives all responses. In another embodiment the serverwaits for a predefined period of time. The server collates a pluralityof responses from the second group of friends and sends the plurality ofresponses to the source device in a step 719.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an exemplary operation of a server thatsupports ad hoc creation of a questionnaire using a first mobile deviceand tailoring the questionnaire before sending the questionnaire to asecond mobile device. The server is communicatively connected to aplurality of mobile devices that are typically a cellular phone, anotebook, a PDA etc. The plurality of mobile devices are associated witha wireless network that is a WLAN network, a cellular network, a WiMAXnetwork etc. The server receives a plurality of questions and a list ofrecipients from a first of the plurality of mobile devices in a step807. The plurality of questions are multimedia based i.e., the pluralityof questions are one or combination of an audio, video, image and text.The server generates a questionnaire using the plurality of questions ina next step 809 and stores the questionnaire n a storage unit. A typicalquestionnaire structure is an audio preamble and a textual preamblefollowed by a multiple choice set for each of the plurality ofquestions. In one embodiment, the plurality of questions from the firstmobile device are audio based. In such a case the server is adapted toappend a generic text and a multiple choice set to each of the pluralityof questions in the step 809.

The server identifies a plurality of mobile devices based on the list ofrecipients received from the first mobile device. In a step 815, theserver notifies the plurality of recipient mobile devices about thequestionnaire by sending short messages to the plurality of recipientmobile devices and waits for responses. On receiving a request for thequestionnaire from the second mobile device, the server determinesdevice capability of the second mobile device. The server tailors thequestionnaire in pursuance to the device capability of the second mobiledevice in a step 811. For example and without limitation, the serversends the questionnaire in a web page format if the second mobile devicehas a browser installed in it. The server is further adapted to removerich graphics from the questionnaire before sending the questionnaire tothe second mobile device if the second mobile device has a lowresolution display.

In a next step 817, the server sends the tailored questionnaire to thesecond mobile device. The server either allows the second mobile deviceto download the questionnaire to the second mobile device or view thequestionnaire as a collection of web pages. In a step 819, the serverreceives responses to the tailored questionnaire from the second mobiledevice. The server forwards the responses to the first mobile device.

FIG. 9 is a perspective block diagram of a mobile device 911 with abrowser and a client plug in that is capable of creating questionnaireswith audio preambles that are uploaded to a server, the mobile devicealso being capable of receiving questionnaires and facilitating theperusing of the questionnaire by a user. The mobile device 911 comprisesa display 913, a recording circuitry 915, a media player 917, a clientcomponent 919, an input interface 923, a processing circuitry 925, acommunication circuitry 927 and a storage 929. The client component 919is at least a software. The client component is communicatively coupledto the display 913, the recording circuitry 915, the media player 917,the input interface 923, the communication circuitry 927 and the storage929. A user using the mobile device 911 may typically wish to send afirst plurality of questions to a second plurality of users. The clientcomponent 919 displays an icon “Create” on the display 913. The clientcomponent 919 prompts the user to enter a question preamble and anoptional supplementary information for each of the first plurality ofquestions when the user selects the icon “Create”. The question preambleis audio based i.e., the user records the question preamble using therecording circuitry 915. The audio preamble (or question preamble)comprises a question and a plurality of options corresponding to answerto the question. For example, the audio preamble is “Guys, for tonight'smovie, choices are A) Jaws, B) King Kong C) Room with a View. Pick one”.The client component 919 stores the audio preamble and further storesthe optional supplementary information in an XML (extended markuplanguage) format in the storage 919. The client component 919 furtherprompts the user to enter a list of recipients after receiving the firstplurality of questions from the user. The client component 919 displaysa contact list stored in the mobile device 911 on the display 913 forthe user to choose from. In one embodiment a webpage is set up for theuser that is used by the user to pre-register username, a common list ofrecipients, phone numbers of the recipients etc. The client component919 is further adapted to retrieve the list of recipients and the phonenumbers from the webpage. The client component 919 sends the audiopreamble and the optional supplementary information corresponding toeach of the first plurality of questions and the retrieved list ofintended recipients (the second plurality of users) to a server (notshown here) via the communication circuitry 927.

The server creates a questionnaire for each of the first plurality ofquestions where the questionnaire comprises the audio preamble and theoptional supplementary information provided by the mobile device 911 (oruser) followed by a multiple choice set where the multiple choice set iscreated using user provided information regarding choices in the audiopreamble. The multiple choice set in the present example is A) Jaws, B)King Kong, C) Room with a View. The server sends questionnairescorresponding to the first plurality of questions to each of the secondplurality of users using the list of intended recipients received fromthe mobile device 911. The server further receives responses to thequestionnaires from the second plurality of users and sends anotification to the client component 919 that the responses are ready.The client component 919 receives the notification from the server as aSMS (shore message service) and displays the short message on thedisplay 913. The server may choose to send the responses as shortmessages to the mobile device 911 and the client component 919 displaysthe short messages on the display 913. The client component 919 may bealternately adapted to retrieve the responses from the server inresponse to the short message based notification from the server.

In an exemplary case another mobile device (not shown here) wishes tosend another questionnaire to the mobile device 911. A browser isrunning on the mobile device 919. The server allows the mobile device911 to download the another questionnaire or view the anotherquestionnaire as a collection of web pages. The browser and clientcomponent 919 enable the user of the mobile device 911 to view thequestionnaire as a web page on the display 913 and also to browse thequestionnaire. The user inputs his choice from a multiple choice setaccompanying the another questionnaire using the input interface 923that is typically a mouse, keyboard, touch screen, touchpad, a pluralityof buttons etc. The client component 919 send the user-choice to theserver that forwards the user-choice to the another mobile device.

FIG. 10 is a perspective block diagram of a network that facilitatescreation and dissemination of questionnaires from a source mobile device1007 to a plurality of televisions, 1011 and 1013. The plurality oftelevisions 1011 and 1013 are associated with a television broadcastnetwork 1015 that is typically a cable TV network or a satellite TVnetwork or a terrestrial TV broadcast network. A first television 1011has a client component running on it. The client component is acombination of a software and a hardware that allows the firsttelevision 1011 to receive questionnaires/questions from the sourcemobile device 1007 via a server 1009, browse through the questionnairesand upload answers to the questionnaires to the server 1009. The server1009 is communicatively connected to the television broadcast network1015 and is enabled to interact with the source mobile device 1007 andthe plurality of televisions 1011 and 1013 via the television broadcastnetwork 1015. The plurality of televisions 1011 and 1013 use a firstprotocol to interact with other network nodes (not shown here) of thetelevision broadcast network 1015. The source mobile device 1007 uses asecond protocol communicatively incompatible with the first protocol tointeract with the television broadcast network 1015.

The source mobile device 1007 intends to send questionnaires to thefirst television 1011 and the second television 1013. The source mobiledevice 1007 receives ad hoc queries from a user using the source mobiledevice 1007 that is typically a notebook, a cellular handset, a PDA etc.A client software running on the source mobile device 1007 enables thesource mobile device 1007 to receive a question and a set of answerscorresponding to the question from the user in an audio format. Theinformation from the user is called an audio preamble. The clientsoftware (or the source mobile device 1007) creates a questionnaire fromthe audio preamble an using a personal computer 1031. The personalcomputer 1031 is communicatively coupled to the television broadcastnetwork 1015. The personal computer 1031 has a software QCreator runningon it. The QCreator generates the questionnaire by appending a multiplechoice set to the audio preamble wherein the multiple choice set is theset of answers provided by the user. For example the audio preamble is“Where will you like to have my birthday party? a) my house, b)restaurant, c) sea resort.” The multiple choice set in this exemplarycase is a) my house, b) restaurant, c) sea resort. The client softwarereceives the questionnaire from the QCreator via the televisionbroadcast network 1015 and forwards the questionnaire to the server 1009via the television broadcast network 1015. The QCreator may bealternately running on the server 1009. In such a case the source mobiledevice 1007 (or the client software) sends the audio preamble to theserver 1009 and the questionnaire is generated by the server 1009.

The source mobile device 1007 sends a list of intended recipienttelevisions to the server 1009 along with the questionnaire (or theaudio preamble). In this exemplary case the first television 1011 andthe second television 1013 are the intended recipients. The listcomprises network addresses of the first and second television (1011 and1013) or ids/nicknames corresponding to the televisions 1011 and 1013.The server 1009 retrieves the network addresses from a lookup tablestored in a storage unit if the list comprises the ids/nicknames insteadof the network addresses. The list is provided by the user to the sourcemobile device 1007 every time the user provides a question to the sourcemobile device 1007. In another embodiment the list is created only once.The server 1009 is made aware of the list so that the source mobiledevice 1007 need not send the list to server 1009 along with thequestionnaire (or the audio preamble) every time. The server 1009 isequipped with the questionnaire based on the question and the set ofanswers from the user and network addresses of the intended recipients.The server 1009 sends the questionnaire to the first television 1011 andthe second television 1013.

The first television 1011 has the client software installed on it. Thesecond television 1013 is communicatively coupled to the televisionbroadcast network 1015 via a set top box 1023. The set top box 1023 hasthe client software installed on it. The client software running on thefirst television 1011 allows the questionnaire received from the server1009 to be viewed as a sequence of web pages on a screen of the firsttelevision 1011 provided the server 1009 sends the questionnaire to thefirst television 1011 in a web page format. A first end-point user usingthe first television 1011 is able to view the questionnaire on thescreen and further able to the browse the questionnaire. The firstend-point user is further able to download the questionnaire in the webpage format and store the questionnaire in the first television 1011.The second television 1013 (or a browser running on the secondtelevision 1013) interacts with the set top box 1023 presents thequestionnaire as a collection of web pages on a screen of the secondtelevision 1013. The second television 1013 interacts with the clientsoftware running on the set top box 1023 continuously so that a secondend-point user using the second television 1013 be able to browse thequestionnaire.

Each of the first end-point user and the second end-point user inputsanswer to the question in the questionnaire (i.e., Where will you liketo have my birthday party?) by selecting one out of the multiple choiceset provided in the questionnaire i.e., one out of a) my house, b)restaurant, and c) sea resort. In one embodiment the questionnairedisplays each option of the multiple choice set as a uniform resourcelocator. The first end-point user (or the second end-point user) inputshis choice by clicking one of uniform resource locators. In anotherembodiment the questionnaire displays boxes next to choices available inthe multiple choice set. The first end-point user (or the secondend-point user) inputs his choice by ticking off a box corresponding tohis preferred option. The client software running on the firsttelevision 1011 and the client software running on the set top box 1023collect answers to the questionnaire from the first television 1011 andthe second television 1013 respectively and send the answers provided bythe first end-point user and the second end-point user to the server1009. The server 1009 forwards the answers to the source mobile device1007 via the television network 1015.

FIG. 11 is a perspective block diagram illustrating interaction betweenQClient, QCreator and QServer applications where the QClient applicationis running on a first user device 1150 and a second user device 1170 andthe QCreator application and the QServer application are running on aserver 1130 to facilitate creation and dissemination of multi-mediabased questionnaires from the first user device 1150 to the second userdevice 1170. The first user device 1150 and the second user device 1170are associated with a data network 1120. The data network 1120 is one ofa variety of, for example and without limitation, a terrestrial cellularnetwork, a wireless local area network, a wireless metropolitan areanetwork etc. that supports audio, video, short message and packet dataflow. The first user device 1150 intends to send multi-media basedquestionnaire to the second user device 1170. The first user device 1150receives an audio input from a first user. The audio input comprises aquestion and a plurality of choices corresponding to an answer to thequestion. The first user records the audio input using a microphone1152. The QClient application 1158 running on the first user device 1150sends the audio input to the server 1130 via a communication interface1154. QServer application 1134 running on the server 1130 that iscommunicatively connected to the first user device 1150 via a backbonenetwork 1110 receives the audio input via communication interface 1138.The QServer 1134 forwards the audio input to the QCreator application1132 running on the server 1130. The QCreator 1130 generates aquestionnaire based on the audio input. The questionnaire comprises anaudio preamble that is an audio file corresponding to the question fromthe first user and a multiple choice set that comprises the plurality ofchoices provided by the first user. In another embodiment thequestionnaire comprises a textual preamble that comprises detailedinformation regarding the multiple choice set. The QCreator 1130 isadapted to generate the questionnaire in a web page format. The QServer1134 determines device capability of the second user device and directsthe QCreator 1130 to tailor the questionnaire in pursuance to the devicecapability of the second user device. For example and withoutlimitation, the QCreator generates a text based questionnaire if adisplay 1180 of the second user device 1170 is not adapted to displayimages. The QCreator 1130 sends the tailored questionnaire to theQServer 1134.

The QServer 1134 sends the tailored questionnaire to the second userdevice 1170 via the backbone network 1110 and the data network 1120 andusing the 1138. The QServer 1134 provides two options to QClient 1176for perusing the questionnaire: (1) download and display thequestionnaire on the display 1180 and (2) browse the questionnaire thatappears as web pages without downloading. The QClient 1176 running onthe second user device 1170 is adapted to download the questionnaire.The QClient 1176 prompts the second user to input his choice of perusingvia input interface 1174. The QClient 1176 receives the questionnairevia communication interface 1172 and displays the audio preamble, themultiple choice set and the textual preamble of the questionnaire on thedisplay 1180 if the second user chooses to download the questionnairefrom the server 1130. The QClient 1176 requests the QServer 1134 for afirst page of the questionnaire in web page format if the second userchooses to browse the questionnaire. The QClient 1176 requests theQServer 1134 for subsequent pages of the questionnaire as the seconduser browses through the questionnaire. The QClient 1176 receives asingle page of the questionnaire per request and displays the receivedpage on the display 1180. The QClient 1176 plays the audio filecorresponding to the question from the first user using a speaker 1178if the second user selects the audio preamble.

The second user informs the QClient 1176 about his choice from themultiple choice set by using the input interface 1174 that is one of amouse, keyboard, touch screen, plurality of keys etc. The QClient 1176sends user response to the server 1130. The QServer 1134 running on theserver 1130 forwards the user response to the first user device 1150 asa text based message. QClient application 1158 running on the first userdevice 1150 receives and displays the text based message (i.e., responseto the question from the first user) on a display (not shown here) ofthe first user device 1150.

FIG. 12 is an exemplary questionnaire structure 1210 that is displayedon a screen of a recipient user device. The questionnaire 1210 comprisesan audio preamble 1220, an audio supplementary information 1230, atextual preamble 1240, a textual supplementary information 1250 and amultiple choice set 1260. A source user device receives an audio inputfrom a first user. The audio input typically comprises a question and aplurality of answers to the question. For example and withoutlimitation, the audio input is “Guys, for tonight's movie, choices areA) Jaws, B) King Kong C) Room with a View. Pick one”. The source userdevice sends the audio input to a server that creates a questionnaireusing the audio input. The server sends the questionnaire to therecipient user device. The audio preamble 1220 of the questionnaire isan audio file corresponding to a sentence “Guys, for tonight's movie,choices are”. A second user who views the questionnaire on a screen ofthe recipient user device hears the sentence “Guys, for tonight's movie,choices are” when the second user plays the audio preamble 1220 of thequestionnaire 1210. The textual preamble 1240 of the questionnaire 1210is the sentence “Guys, for tonight's movie, choices are” displayed onthe screen. The textual preamble 1240 in addition comprises identity ofthe first user. The audio supplementary information 1230 of thequestionnaire 1210 is an audio file corresponding to a phrase “Pickone”.

The multiple choice set 1260 of the questionnaire 1210 is a graphicdisplay of a plurality of choices provided by the first user, i.e., A)Jaws, B) King Kong and C) Room with a View on the screen of therecipient user device. The server, in one embodiment, sends a pluralityof uniform resource locators, one each for the plurality of choices, tothe recipient user device. The second user using the recipient userdevice responds to the questionnaire by selecting a uniform resourcelocator in pursuance to his choice from the plurality of uniformresource locators.

The textual supplementary information 1250 comprises informationregarding the plurality of choices sent by the first user. In thisexemplary case, the textual supplementary information 1250 comprisesviewer rating of movies A) Jaws, B) King Kong and C) Room with a View,date of release of the movies, name of directors of the movies, categoryof the movies etc. The server is provided with the supplementaryinformation by the first user. The server, in another embodiment, isadapted to retrieve the supplementary information from a database basedon the audio input from the first user.

As one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, the terms “operablycoupled” and “communicatively coupled,” as may be used herein, includedirect coupling and indirect coupling via another component, element,circuit, or module where, for indirect coupling, the interveningcomponent, element, circuit, or module does not modify the informationof a signal but may adjust its current level, voltage level, and/orpower level. As one of ordinary skill in the art will also appreciate,inferred coupling (i.e., where one element is coupled to another elementby inference) includes direct and indirect coupling between two elementsin the same manner as “operably coupled” and “communicatively coupled.”

The present invention has also been described above with the aid ofmethod steps illustrating the performance of specified functions andrelationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functionalbuilding blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined hereinfor convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences canbe defined so long as the specified functions and relationships areappropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences arethus within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention.

The present invention has been described above with the aid offunctional building blocks illustrating the performance of certainsignificant functions. The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined for convenience of description.Alternate boundaries could be defined as long as the certain significantfunctions are appropriately performed. Similarly, flow diagram blocksmay also have been arbitrarily defined herein to illustrate certainsignificant functionality. To the extent used, the flow diagram blockboundaries and sequence could have been defined otherwise and stillperform the certain significant functionality. Such alternatedefinitions of both functional building blocks and flow diagram blocksand sequences are thus within the scope and spirit of the claimedinvention.

One of average skill in the art will also recognize that the functionalbuilding blocks, and other illustrative blocks, modules and componentsherein, can be implemented as illustrated or by discrete components,application specific integrated circuits, processors executingappropriate software and the like or any combination thereof.

Moreover, although described in detail for purposes of clarity andunderstanding by way of the aforementioned embodiments, the presentinvention is not limited to such embodiments. It will be obvious to oneof average skill in the art that various changes and modifications maybe practiced within the spirit and scope of the invention, as limitedonly by the scope of the appended claims.

1. A server comprising: the server managing the interactions between asource mobile device and a plurality of recipient television devicescommunicatively coupled to the server; the server receiving a contentfrom the source mobile device for distribution; the server determiningthat at least a first television of the plurality of recipienttelevision devices comprises a client component capable of processingthe content and capable of facilitating response solicitation, andcommunicating the content to at least the first television; the serverreceiving responses from the client component in the at least the firsttelevision, wherein the responses are solicited and collected from auser by the client component; and the server collating the responsesfrom the at least the first television and communicating the collatedresponses to the source mobile device.
 2. The server of claim 1 whereinthe server accepts responses from the at least the first television onlyafter authenticating a one-time response token received from thecorresponding users of the at least the first television.
 3. The serveraccording to claim 1 further comprising: the server receiving a list ofrecipients from the source mobile device to determine targets fordelivery of the content; and the server targeting those of the pluralityof recipient television devices that are specified as recipients in thelist of recipients for delivery of the content.
 4. The server accordingto claim 1, further comprising: the server provides the content as aplurality of interactive web pages tailored to the specific ones of theplurality of recipient television devices, or provides the content in analternate form, based on the device capability of the corresponding onesof the plurality of recipient television devices.
 5. The serveraccording to claim 1, wherein the server receives a first plurality ofquestions from one of the plurality of recipient television devices andsends it to at least one of the others of the plurality of recipienttelevision devices, receives responses from them, and communicates theresponses to the one of the plurality of recipient television devices.6. A server comprising: the server interacting with a plurality oftelevisions, wherein the server is communicatively coupled to theplurality of televisions; the server receiving, optionally tailoring anddistributing one of a plurality of questionnaires to at least one of theplurality of televisions based on a device capability associated withthe one of the plurality of televisions and based on user selectionsmade by associated users of the plurality of televisions; and the serverproviding interactivity related to the one of the plurality ofquestionnaires, wherein the interactivity is associated with selectingsupplementary information, providing responses to the one of theplurality of questionnaires, changing the currently displayed one of theplurality of questionnaires, purchasing a product or service based onthe one of the plurality of questionnaires, providing feedback the oneof the plurality of questionnaires or sharing the one of the pluralityof questionnaires.
 7. The server of claim 6 that sends an ad hoc queryto at least one of the plurality of televisions to solicit userresponses, collects user responses from the at least one of theplurality of televisions, and forwards it to an entity associated withthe ad hoc query.
 8. The server of claim 6 further comprising: theserver facilitates creation of an ad-hoc question or questionnaire by auser of one of the plurality of televisions, and sends the adhocquestion or questionnaire to recipients specified; the server determinestarget televisions among the plurality of televisions based on therecipients specified; and the server presents the ad hoc question orquestionnaire to the target televisions, collects responses from them,and presents the responses to the user of the one of the plurality oftelevisions.
 9. A server that facilitates interaction by a first useremploying a first device with a group of friends, each employing one ofa plurality of devices, the server comprising: the server communicates afirst content created by the first user on the first device and receivedby the server from the first device to the plurality of devices; theserver receives responses from the plurality of devices; and the servercollates the responses and sends it to the first device.
 10. The serverof claim 9 wherein the server waits till it receives responses from eachof the plurality of devices, or waits for a predefined period of time,before sending responses to the first device.
 11. The server of claim 9further comprising: the server either allows the plurality of devices todownload the first content for review by a corresponding one of thegroup of friends, employing a compatible client component in therespective ones of the plurality of devices; and the server facilitatesaccess of the first content, or a subset thereof, as a collection of webpages provided by the server.
 12. The server of claim 9 furthercomprising: the server, communicatively coupled to a source mobiledevice, receives an ad hoc query from the source mobile device, whereinthe ad hoc query is created by a user using the source mobile device;the server sends the ad hoc query to at least one of the plurality ofdevices and receives responses from the at least one of the plurality ofdevices; and the server communicates the ad hoc query and the receivedresponses corresponding to the ad hoc query to the source mobile device.13. The server of claim 12 wherein the ad hoc query comprises one ormore of audio, text, graphics, and video, the server further comprising:the server adds boilerplate content and multiple choices to the ad hocquery before sending it to the at least one of the plurality of devices.14. A network infrastructure comprising: a source device that creates afirst content requiring user interaction; a first recipient device thatcomprises a first client capable of handling the first content; a secondrecipient device wherein the second recipient device comprises a websitebrowsing client capable of displaying webpages; a server,communicatively coupled to the source device, the first recipient deviceand the second recipient device, that receives the first content fromthe source device; the server sending the first content to the firstrecipient device for display by the first client; and the serverproviding at least a portion of the first content, or a modified versionof the first content, when requested via the website browsing client, tothe second recipient device.
 15. The network infrastructure of claim 14further comprising: the source device, the first recipient device andthe second recipient device are each one of a mobile device, a tablet, aPDA, a television, a set-top-box, a laptop, and a personal computer; theserver tailors the first content to the capability of the firstrecipient device, and at least a portion of the first content, or amodified version of the first content to the capability of the secondrecipient device, respectively.
 16. The network infrastructure of claim14 wherein the server receives the first content and a list of recipientdevices from the source device and communicates the first content to therecipient devices associated with the list of recipient devices.
 17. Thenetwork infrastructure of claim 16 wherein the server receives responsesfrom at least one recipient devices associated with the list ofrecipient devices, collates it, and communicates it to the sourcedevice.
 18. The network infrastructure of claim 14, wherein the firstrecipient device and the second recipient device are each one of apersonal computer, a laptop, a PDA, a mobile device, a cellular device,a music player, a set-top-box for a television, a television, and atablet.
 19. The network infrastructure of claim 14 wherein the firstcontent is a survey of multiple questions, wherein each question in themultiple question comprises are one or more of an audio component, videocomponent, an image component, a text component and a multiple choiceselection.
 20. The network infrastructure of claim 14 wherein the serverconverts the first content to a form compatible with the secondrecipient device and then provides at least a portion of the firstcontent, or a compatible version of the first content, when requestedvia the website browsing client, to the second recipient device.
 21. Thenetwork infrastructure of claim 14 further comprising: the server addsboilerplate text and audio information to the first content provided bythe source device to create a modified first content; and the serversends the modified first content to the first recipient device fordisplay to a first recipient user.
 22. The network infrastructure ofclaim 14 further comprising: the server determining that the firstrecipient device comprises the first client capable of capable ofhandling the first content and sending the first content to the firstrecipient device; and the server determining that the second recipientdevice is not capable of handling the first content and providing webbased access to the first content via webpages associated with the firstcontent.
 23. The network infrastructure of claim 14 further comprising:the server providing a notification to the first and second recipientdevice regarding the availability of the first content, wherein thenotification is an SMS message based notification, an email basednotification, an IM based notification or a first client basednotification.
 24. The network infrastructure of claim 17 furthercomprising: the server communicating the received responses to thesource device via email, via a website associated with the server, bySMS messages, or by instant messaging.
 25. The network infrastructure ofclaim 14 further comprising: the server communicates a notification tothe second recipient device comprising an URL associated with the firstcontent, wherein the URL provides references to a webpage that presentsthe first content as a set of webpages.